Onto Adelaide and Broken Hill –Day 3

Being on holiday is hard work - all these early morning starts.  At 7.15m the buses were waiting at Adelaide Station to take the passengers on a choice of several morning tours.  We had opted for the City Tour and the bus driver drove along the mist shrouded CBD streets pointing out historical buildings and the city’s many parks

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Many of the old buildings were constructed of locally mined stone.  Including this attractive house, which started out as the Head Physician’s home of the Lunatic Asylum!

Can you see the bats hanging in this tree?  Imagine them flying around in the twilight!

Bats hanging in this tree

Our tour ended at the Adelaide Oval, home to cricket fans and the AFL.  All the tours were concluding here for breakfast.

At the Adelaide Oval

Our breakfast was all laid out on tables, ready and waiting for us, in one of the Corporate Boxes upstairs.  And with a great view out over the Oval.

Then we were taken back to re-board our train for the continuation of our journey – the crew changes over from Adelaide to Sydney section.  In the station was a statue of the Wedge Tail Eagle, used as a symbol  on the great rail journey on the Indian Pacific.

Wedge Tail Eagle

As the train pulled out of Adelaide Station we settled back to enjoy our afternoon travel.  Some people think train travel is boring, but the sights out the window were constantly changing and there was always something to see.  There were paddocks of bright green canola, we had passed wheat growing earlier, and saw stock, both cattle and sheep.  As the land got drier once more, we finally spotted some kangaroos and emus – that sent up an excited roar throughout the lounge car.  Then we saw some feral goats, several nannies with twin kids trailing along behind.  What often happens is that the train whizzes by, and the photo opportunities are lost if your camera is not primed and ready to go.

Different views at different times

The Indian Pacific pulled into Broken Hill (also known as Silver City) at about 5.00pm and it was time for another off train excursion.  We didn’t realise that all the mining was so close to the town.  In fact we were told that the mine tunnels run under the town.

Arriving at Broken Hill

There was a choice of things to see, and as our bus driver drove us to ours, he took us around town to see all the old buildings, commenting that the whole town is Heritage Listed now.  Our choice of venues was to see the amazing Big Picture, the world’s largest acrylic painting by a single artist.  This giant 12m by 100m work of art was created by local self taught artist Ando over two years, and is housed in the Silver City Mint and Art Centre, run by Ando’s brother, silversmith Peter.  As Ando worked on the painting, Peter constructed the accompanying foreground, using soil, and models of animals and reptiles, bushes and bones.  With a welcoming glass of wine, and canapes to nibble, we gazed at this huge work of art showcasing the local area.

Viewing the Big Picture

Then it was back on the bus, onto the train for a rather late dinner, before heading off to bed.  And no doubt another exciting day awaits us in the morning.